Aman's Art

It's funny how people can take you by surprise. While at Maribago Bluewater Resort my friends were talking about a up and coming painter, Aman Santos, they were complimenting his style and also the fact that he was in his 30s but could pass for a teenager. I was looking forward to meeting him and seeing his art at the Bluewater Gallery. Lo and behold, turns out AMAN is really DINGDONG Santos from my highschool! He was one batch below me and we were both on the Student Council (yes, laugh now) together in the 80s! Ha ha ha! Too funny, of course being me, I ripped his ego to shreds by calling him Dingdong in front of everyone, he was a good sport anyway and he laughingly defended his name change by saying "Who would buy a painting by an artist named DINGDONG?!" The Aman has a po-wint. He walked me to the gallery and showed me his work, part of the three man exhibit and suffice to say I was taken aback by what I saw. I would never have expected it out of him, not because he wasn't smart or creative back in highschool, but I certainly didn't think he would ever be a painter, shows you how much you know when you're that young. I guess school doesn't make aMan. I then found out that he was one of BenCabs apprentices and even if he studied to be a PT he went back to UP for Fine Arts and is now even teacher in their VizComm department. Take at look at some of his work. If you're in Cebu drop by the Bluewater Gallery at Maribago Bluewater Resort to check out the Art of Three Exhibit that runs until November 20. The resort is in the Mactan side of Cebu province you can call Juliet Amazona (032) 492-1808 or 232-5411 if you're a non-resort staying guest for an exhibit viewing appointment.

Au Natural

Discovering something new is irreplaceable, especially when it's a place you want to share with friends and, in this blog's case, the rest of the cyberworld. A Wednesday afternoon found me in a new gallery on Quirino Ave (athough people of a different generation will firmly identifu the area as Tambo) to see a series of photographs of children during playtime. Before the Michael Jackson in you comes out take note that the photos connote a joy and abandon that kinds lose themselves in during their endeavors. Hey, even sleeping is done with so much enthusiasm it take a rather cruel heart to want to stir them from their slumber. The photos were even arranged in a way that it made you want to look at them, and when I say arranged...I mean you have the opportunity to do some neck and back stretches. Congratulations to Chit and Eileen Ramirez who put up this gallery which I hope will pump in more work and even more interesting styling curator style. "Natural Lang" is the current exhibit at Blankspace, 0431 Quirino Ave, Paranaque tel. (02) 851-2647. Take a couple of hours out of a "usual" weekend and go view something new, which will probably bring more than a smile to your face. To the arts, and to those who still have the spirit for it in the Philippines. The battle isn't over they say til the soldiers stop fighting.

Old loves

I write this particular blog after having just "published" my Madrid photos early this morning. It's almost like I'm fully accepting that my Europe trip is over and the Madrid album ( since it was the country of my last stop ) is the closing of a door. Hopefully a door that can be opened more often than it has in the last 6 years. I lived in Madrid from 1997-1999, I had a small but well located flat, right in the heart of the Paseo de la Castellana. There were tapas bars around me, schools and every form of transportation that could get me from one end of Madrid City to the other. Seeing my old friends, some married and with kids and some still single and enjoying themselves in my former country of residence made me a tad sentimental. I kept on asking myself if I could live in Madrid again, if I could start from scratch ( the way I did 10 years ago) and just immerse myself in a land that was fueled by passion, and a certain stubborness to be more modern, and perhaps perform better in the world economy. The answer right now, is probably not, only because if I return to Madrid it's to be able to sit back and fully enjoy the city without having to worry about where the next Euro is coming from.I was able to watch a fantastic bullfight on TV, went to the rastro, watched Jesus Christ Superstar in Spanish and reconnect to this wonderful, wonderful place that hosted me for over two years and never once made me miss my country of birth. How many times in a life can you actually say you don't miss where you come from even if where you come from is a place that is not bad at all? I still remember as my plane was about to touch down in Barajas how my heart sped up and my adrenaline went ballistic, for about 2 whole, extraordinary minutes I was in total euphoria at just the thought of being in Madrid again. My dream is still to buy a 2 bedroom flat there and use it as my base every summer either to stay and chill or travel the rest of Europe. Porque no? Quizas, quizas, quizas.